Sustainability in Hawaii

By Bethany Cole

-Sustainable: adj. Conserving an ecological balance by avoiding the depletion of natural resources.

Hawaii is the most isolated island chain, and is over 6,000 miles away from any other known land. Therefore, sustainability is important, if the island should be able to stay a stable ecosystem and provide for it's inhabitants.

An old system of land division that was used during the time of the ali'i in Hawaii, called Ahupua'a, was based off of sustainability and was indeed very useful in keeping the ecosystem stable.

Sustainability in Hawaii

-Ahupua'a: n. Land divisions that were used in ancient hawaii that were often based off of the watershed of a stream on older islands such as the Oahu and Maui.

The shape and size of the ahupua'a varied, but they all contained the necessary resources for living and sustaining a civilization, and not upsetting their culture & religion. They were created as a way to help the hawaiian chieftains (ali'i) divide the lands in a way to give land to families so that they all had the necessary resources, without disrupt the natural flow of land, and angering their gods.

Ahupua'a

Ahupua'a today

What can we learn from traditional ahupua'a? Recently, significant attention has been given to reviving the ahupua'a concept to confront the challenges of sustainability in modern Hawai'i. Obviously, our current challenges are different than those in pre-contact Hawai'i, but many of the management systems are still pertinent and practical for modern-day problems. The lessons we can learn are many, but three primary practices figure prominently in moving toward sustainable Hawaiian futures. These include the recognition and implementation of pono practices, building capacity for community-based action and managing our environment holistically. Reviving these strategies requires changes from the level of the individual to the archipelago, a multi-scale approach that early Hawaiian societies also espoused.*

*http://www.greenmagazinehawaii.com/culture_v1-1.html

Sustainability regarding food supplies has become more important as living costs have been rising. The amount of food in Hawaii that is imported from outlying areas has been increasing, and reached 80% in the year 2012.

The rising prices have been creating more of a reason for local families to eat at cheap fast food restaurants, creating an increased amount of child obesity; especially in the Native Hawaiians.

Regarding Food

Some solutions that have been brought to mind are teaching the island families how to grow their own food, and also how to make food so they can learn to supply their children with healthy meals to take the place of high-calorie, greasy foods filled with hormones like at fast food restaurants.

Another solution is giving out healthy, easy recipe cookbooks to low income families so they can make cheap food that still holds all the needed nutrients and not break the budget.

"As the native Hawaiians used the resources within their 'ahupua'a, they practiced aloha (respect), laulima (cooperation), and malama (stewardship) which resulted in a desirable pono (balance). This is sound resource management where the interconnectedness of the clouds, the forests, the streams, the fishponds, the sea, and the people is clearly recognized."

(Carlos Andrade)

Regarding Food (solutions)

http://www.bishopmuseum.org/greenwell/ahupuaa.htmlislandbreath.blogspot.com http://www.greenmagazinehawaii.com/culture_v1-1.html

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